Goodbye dear blog readers
Wednesday, May 13, 2015 
I'm done.
I could take you down a long winded path of words to tell you that, but that has never been my writing style. I'd rather be direct.
For seven years, I wrote here. I shared my thoughts about parenting, feminism, social change and the intersection between them. I wrote 200 posts about breastfeeding and another 600 or so on other topics. Even I find that hard to believe. But I've had less and less to share as my children get older. I feel like I've written just about everything I wanted to write about parenting (and I don't like repeating myself) and I also find there are less common topics to discuss as our children get older.
As I wrote previously:
I'm parenting inside a relationship that is many years in the making.
Within the walls of that relationship, the books, the magazines, and the experts mean a lot less than my intuition does. Every once in a while, I read an article that catches my interest or inspires me, but I spend a lot less time deep diving for ideas than I once did. I look to my children to show me how to parent them, not to some outside source of expertise and validation that knows nothing about who my children are, who I am, or what our relationship is like.
The interesting conversations about parenting, I find, are more often in one-on-one situations with people who know my children and who know me. My Internet interactions about parenting have become less about big issues and more about daily anecdotes. Those anecdotes don't often make it to the blog, because it is hard to write a full blog post on something that is easily said in 140 characters on twitter.
With each year, the number of blog posts I have written has dwindled. In 2014, I only wrote 14 blog posts. Barely more than one per month. This year, I've only written one prior to this one. I've been planning this blog's demise for a while, but needed to find the right time. Since then, numerous other bloggers have announced similar ends to their blogs. Others seem to be on their way out too.
The blog isn't going anywhere. I will keep PhD in Parenting on the Internet. Around 2000 people still visit the blog on an average day, 86% of them for the first time. Keeping content on the Internet isn't free. I'll still have to pay for hosting and the domain name. If you visit the site and find the content useful, I would appreciate you clicking on my Amazon links and making purchases. It is no additional cost to you, but a small percentage goes to me and helps me cover the cost of the blog.
I'm not going anywhere either. While I'm done focusing on parenting, I've been online for almost 25 years now and I don't plan to leave the Internet altogether anytime soon. If you want to know where to find me, drop me a line and I'll let you know (please do not send press releases or requests for product reviews).
If you're new to the blog and want to dig in a bit, you're welcome to read through my archives and check out the most popular posts on the blog. Comments are still open now, but I'll likely shut them down soon so that I don't have to keep an eye on comment moderation and spam.
To those of you who have read my blog over the years: THANK YOU. I've appreciated interacting with so many of you in discussions in the comments, on facebook and twitter, and on your blogs. Goodbye.
Reader Comments (53)
This was one of the first blogs I started reading and I will miss it. I understand moving on though! Thanks for sharing with us!
Goodbye and thank you. It was a pleasure to read you. Thank you for your frank and straight thoughts. See you in/on some new places :)
Thank you for this blog! It has been a pleasure to read your thoughts over the years. Good wishes go with you.
Looking forward to hearing from you again from your new place, wherever that might be. I follow your FB page, so if you happen to update it to include the new info, that would be helpful.
Thanks for this blog and good luck!
As someone who has learned from you, shared with you, commiserated with you and had the pleasure of calling you a peer AND a friend over the years, you will be missed here but welcome in other places that you have yet to explore!!
Thank you, Annie. I've been a reader for almost 6 of those 7 years. While I don't often comment on blog posts, I've thoroughly enjoyed reading all you had to share with us. Thank you for offering a thoughtful space for those of us tackling parenting for the first time.
Good luck with your new endeavors!
No, thank you:)
Once a fan, always a fan. Thank you, Annie!
Thank you for the blog! I read it so much with my first, needing so much support for going against the grain and breastfeeding! And I kept reading. So glad you are keeping it up for others to find! Good luck to you!
i totally get this. exactly what happened in my own life too. the forums, blogs, facebook groups and general online research has all but vanished for me now that my kids are 5 &7..it was fantastic reading your thoughts and i directed many new parents to your articles over the years. thank you for all you have put out there, and are keeping out there.
Thank you for your thoughts and insight over the years! Good luck with all your parenting and other adventures!
When I was in the early days of parenting, your blog was a tether to reality. I love it and recommend it to others. Thank you so much for being a guide, a beacon and a strong advocate for children and mothers.
I still remember the very first post I read of yours, and I still remember thinking, "Oh, I wish I could write like her. I wish I could meet her."
I don't know that I do or can write like you, because you've always had this way with saying what needs to be said so beautifully, articulately and skillfully, but I did meet you. I brag to people that I know you, and that you are every bit as awesome as your blog is.
You did good.
Oh, Annie. I feel you.
Thank you! Take care.
It's generous of you to keep the blog up. Thank you for the check in before you check out! See you round the nets
Thank you. I'll miss your writing and insight very much.
I get it. I really do.
But I love what you did here. Thanks for sharing all of it.
xo Kim
We'll miss you! Your posts have been really validating to me in my own search to parent my children gently, and to resolve challenges in different ways from those used with me when I was young.
sending lots of love your way on your new on and off line adventures
OH MAN. I've read so many of your posts over the years...they helped me feel like there was a community out there of moms who felt the way I did, who struggled with the same things I did and who were as passionate about breastfeeding as I was. Take a bow mama, you've helped so many along the way. Bless you and here's to exciting new beginnings!
I will miss you. I've been through parenting cycles, have had teens and toddlers, and now I have grandchildren - and still a 10yo. I am a little jealous that you've grown out of a parenting blog and I'm still in need of one! Best wishes. Namaste.
Thank you and take care, will miss your articles.
It is a natural crossroads to be at when our children grow older and we evolve as parents and needing to express our true selves. I applaud you for taking this opportunity to say adieu and not leave people wondering... that happens more often. I've read many of your blog posts and am glad that I had your blog as a resource for many parenting quandaries. Your work is much appreciated by new moms and moms who have been there, done that. Let us say cheers to this chapter in your life and celebrate the writing of the next!
Thanks so much for an intelligent, thoughtful blog - glad it is at least staying!
one of the first blogs I read. Thank you Annie for the inspiration to write my own blog. Much good luck!
Thank you for everything you have done!!
I always greatly enjoyed your thoughts on different topics. But I have found myself depending on what I read so much less than at the beginning of this parenting journey. You are right, when our kids are young, we rely on other's experiences to take decisions. As they get older, it is their life and our way of handling challenges that decides what is the best way forward.
I wish you all the best for whatever may lie ahead of you.
Thank you for all the wonderful info and conversation. I have gained a lot from reading, and it was invaluable in my early years of parenting. I wish you all the best.
A couple years ago I explored becoming a LLL leader until I realized once I was no longer breastfeeding a baby I wouldn't feel that level of passion about it. Just as I read every natural birthing thing I could when I was in my pregnant and birthing years, but pretty much stopped once I had my last baby. I still care and support breastfeeding, babywearing, non-cio, bedsharing, etc, but it's all of secondary importance now.
Thank you for all you have written. And for leaving it up. Goodbye.
Thank you so much for sharing all your thoughts, advice and experiences. Many times your thoughtful reasoning has helped to crystalise my gut feelings. Many times you have taken a view I wouldn't have considered before. But always useful, considered and entertaining.
After an *extremely* rocky start I managed to breastfeed for 2 years when friends and family where only doing it for 2 months if at all. A handful of online sites, including this one, helped me feel I wasn't alone or odd to be slightly obsessed with making it work for me.
Now we're well into the toddler years I 'm still finding your site a wealth of good ideas.
Please don't take the site down any time soon.
And thank you again, and good luck with your future.x
I first stumbled on PhD before we adopted our two daughters; I was fighting a nearby Nestle bottling plant, and I remember your blog as being one of the handful that was calling bullshit on one of Nestle's "blogger conventions."
I recently shuttered my fly fishing blog after seven years and more than a million words; it was fun and all, but my two kids reminded me I now had an investment in the future, so maybe the next million words would be better invested somewhere else.
Good luck with whatever comes next.
I remember when this blog began. You've put so much time, energy, and thought into it - you should be so proud of what you've built! Looking forward to seeing where this next stage of the journey takes you (and me, vicariously).
Thank you Annie for all your brilliant insights into so many important subjects. I'm so glad you're leaving your blog online! All the best!
Thanks for everything you have shared over the years. Evolution and growth is always a good thing.
Annie, I have so enjoyed reading your thoughts and still turn to your older posts for insight and wisdom. I'm lucky to have gotten the opportunity to meet you a few times, too. I'd love to keep up with your work if you continue blogging on other topics. Good luck with your endeavors, writing and otherwise!
I just wanted to say a huge thank you for all you have done. I have really appreciated your wisdom over the years. All the best for your future adventures xx
Thank you and goodbye!
I only discovered you a few months, at most a year ago, so I'm sorry to see you go, but I totally understand. I do hope I find you in whatever you're doing next, as I'm sure it will be good.
Best wishes in all you do, and thank you for leaving the information up for all of us to find.
Your blog was the first parenting blog I found after the birth of my daughter in 2010 that was truly informative and inspiring. I appreciate what a strong advocate you've been for breastfeeding- all your posts and videos are amazing. Thank you for all the hard work you've put in over the years. All my best to you and your family!
I've enjoyed several of your posts. Enjoy where the next phase of internet takes you!
No, do not go !
Your information are always welcome.
OMG, I JUST FOUND YOU and you're LEAVING! :) So sorry to hear it but will enjoy reading your archives. Will you continue to post on your Facebook page??
Sad to see that your closing things down. Thanks for all the great advice and wisdom you have provided over the years!
Thanks for sharing great tips all these days. You will go away but your advice will always stay with us.
Woa, so surprised! I only had a chance to read the blog a few times a year, but always loved it!
Good luck with whatever you are doing next!
It had been awhile since I had last read the blog but still sad to see you shutting things down.
Your blog seems to be very popular. Would you reconsider blogging again?
I'm not going anywhere either. While I'm done focusing on parenting, I've been online for almost 25 years now and I don't plan to leave the Internet altogether anytime soon.